by Frank Calvillo
Box Office Alternative Column
Box Office Alternative is a weekly look into additional/optional choices to the big-budget spectacle opening up at your local movie theater every Friday. Oftentimes, titles will consist of little-known or underappreciated work from the same actor/writer/director/producer of said new release, while at other times, the selection for the week just happens to touch upon the same subject in a unique way. Above all, this is a place to revisit and/or discover forgotten cinematic gems of all kinds.
In the Heart of the Sea opens this weekend hoping to nab the attention of audiences and critics with its tale of a group of fearless seamen led by Chris Hemsworth who take on the elements and an extremely large whale in the Ron Howard-directed film.
While the screenplay, written by Charles Leavitt, strives for great emotional impact, it never fully manages such a feat quite like his script for 1998’s touching The Mighty did.
In The Mighty, Elden Henson plays Max Kane, a large teenager having to repeat the seventh grade for a third time. Raised by his grandparents, (Harry Dean Stanton and Gena Rowlands) Max finds himself being constantly bullied because of his size and learning disability. Things change for Max when Kevin Dillon (Kieran Culkin) and his mom Gwen (Sharon Stone) move in next door. Born with Morquio’s syndrome, Kevin must contend with normal sized bones and a tiny body, which he more than makes up for with a boundless imagination and endless sense of humor. When the two boys find themselves bonding over a copy of “King Arthur,” a friendship develops between them, which will change their lives forever.
There’s an ongoing theme throughout The Mighty of knighthood, which both boys fantasize about becoming one day. Not only is the film divided up, narrated and presented as a modern story told in medieval fashion, but many of the adventures and obstacles the boys find themselves presented with are looked upon as dangerous quests that the two take on with reckless abandon. The knight analogy might not be for everyone’s tastes, yet there is no better metaphor for fearlessness, survival and optimism, all of which are traits the boys cling to.
The Mighty has some great laughs and fun fantasy-lite sequences to compound its sadder elements. Above all though, this is a story of friendship and the sheer power it gives a person’s soul when it’s truly found. Watching a friendship develop between two individuals most have written off as socially unacceptable is nothing short of glorious and heartwarming. What makes things even better is the way The Mighty manages to bring forth its emotional moments in ways which thankfully steer clear of over-sentimentality.
The script never wastes more time than it needs to on the boys’ plights. Everyone watching can more than imagine all that these two have to endure on a daily basis, from bullying to crippling health issues and other circumstances, most of which would be enough to crush anyone’s spirits. And yet the two find the strength and the power to take on all the problems the world throws at them thanks to the strength they give each other. Kevin and Max don’t have much of an advantage over other boys their age, but they have each other, and they know they have each other. As The Mighty so beautifully shows, that’s all they need.
As the film’s two stars, Culkin and Henson are true naturals and prove more than capable of carrying the weight of the film on their shoulders. It’s easy to get wonderfully lost in scenes where they are the only two actors on the screen and watch as they so effortlessly bring this unique friendship to life.
The two are well-aided by their grown up co-stars. Stanton and Rowlands have some nice moments, while James Gandolfini and Gillian Anderson enjoy some great character parts as figures from Max’s past. Finally, in a film which has very little to actually do with her character, Stone is glorious and heartbreaking as Gwen, personifying strength and love for her son. For my money, this is one of the actress’ finest moments on screen.
Though The Mighty received its share of glowing reviews, the film had the bad luck of being released around the same time as the similarly-themed Simon Birch. With two such similar films in theaters simultaneously, audiences ended up staying away from both and The Mighty ended up a box office flop. The film did enjoy some slight awards acclaim when it received Golden Globe nominations for both Stone and the film’s title song, “The Mighty,” which was written and performed by Sting.
I had always hoped that time would allow people to discover The Mighty, but sadly this has not been the case. Every time the film manages to come up, I find myself having to explain what it is to those who have no idea about this beautiful story’s existence. Maybe one day The Mighty will be given the respect and acclaim it rightfully deserves and this magical tale of pure and unconditional friendship will be enjoyed the way it was always meant to.
